


gwendy darling

by procrastinationfairy



Category: Spider-Gwen (Comics), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, It's probably not that graphic, also there is VERY VERY TINY SLIGHT implied parksborn, anyway this is my spider-gwen au to fulfill my need for her without reading the comics, because i am too much of a wuss to handle it, but for the sake of this series it's actually not, i put graphic depictions of violence but idk how good i am at describing violence so like, like it's so slight and one-sided that you could easily interpret it as a platonic, other characters make appearances but they're not main characters in this verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-08
Updated: 2018-09-08
Packaged: 2019-07-08 10:16:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15928352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/procrastinationfairy/pseuds/procrastinationfairy
Summary: The moment Gwen Stacy was bitten by that spider was a moment that meant her life was never going to continue on the course she had planned. It was a moment that meant she was no longer just Gwendolyn Stacy, a normal high school girl competing for valedictorian with her dorky boyfriend. It was a moment that gave her one of the greatest gifts she’d ever received. It was the moment that would lead to the worst night of her life.





	gwendy darling

**Author's Note:**

> I love Spider-Gwen as a concept, but I’m too upset by character death to actually read the comic (just like I couldn’t read the original comics even up to Captain Stacy’s death), so I decided to make my own, taking some basic plot points from the comic. Except I still killed Peter because apparently it’s okay if I do it. I’m a hypocrite. (But this is also part 1 in a series so.) Since I haven't read the comics, I'm honestly not sure how much this differs, but I'm having fun, so who cares?

The moment Gwen Stacy was bitten by that spider was a moment that meant her life was never going to continue on the course she had planned. It was a moment that meant she was no longer just Gwendolyn Stacy, a normal high school girl competing for valedictorian with her dorky boyfriend. It was a moment that gave her one of the greatest gifts she’d ever received. It was the moment that would lead to the worst night of her life.

When she had started making the persona, it seemed fun. The web shooters were pretty easy to make, considering the project on artificial rope fibers she and Peter had been working on. The costume came naturally, after borrowing Peter’s aunt’s sewing machine. Peter had set it up for her.

(“You sure you know how to use it?” he checked for the thousandth time. She laughed and nodded, pulling him down for a kiss. He wasn’t too much taller than her, a scrawny, thin kind of guy with warm blue eyes behind square glasses and a bright smile with braces. He was such a nerd, and Gwen _loved_ him. She told him she was fine and that she wanted to make her own prom dress. She’d later retract that lie after she’d finished making the costume, saying it was too hard and she wasn’t ready for that kind of project. He only nodded and took the machine home. She liked that about Peter, that he never questioned whether she could do something. She didn’t know if it was blind faith in her abilities or an attempt to be encouraging, but she liked it.)

When she debuted, she didn’t do much other than stop a few robberies and muggings and maybe a potential rape. She knew better than to rush into anything. She was just a teenage girl, after all. She hadn’t have the experience to take it to the big leagues. Besides, it was kind of cool, developing the sort of underground name for herself.

“‘Spider-Girl,’” Peter read off of his computer one day before their history class. He curled his lips and pushed his glasses up his nose. They were constantly falling down since they’d been bent in PE earlier in the year with a dodgeball to the face. “Do you think that’s real, Gwendy?” He turned the screen towards Gwen, and she leaned over the arm of the ugly school desk to see, her hair brushing against his shoulder.

“Hm,” she said, not really watching the video. She’d already lived it. She was living now for Peter’s reaction. “It could be. I mean, there’s lots of people with powers, Peter.”

He shrugged. “Doesn’t mean this one is real.”

Gwen tried not to deflate. She debated whether she should tell Peter, but she’d decided against it a while ago. Peter was already so busy, working at a cafe after school to help his aunt and uncle with the bills on top of all of his schoolwork, and somehow he still made time for Gwen. She couldn’t imagine putting him through the worry of knowing his girlfriend was out there fighting crime. Not yet, at least. She reached over the gap between the aisle to grab his hand. “Yeah, I guess. Hey, why do they think she’s a girl anyway? I mean, couldn’t she be a woman?”

“Could be,” Peter agreed, smiling and blushing with Gwen’s hand in his. His braces gleamed under the fluorescent lights. “We can’t see a face, and her height doesn’t mean much. She could be full-grown or still growing.”

“Exactly!” Gwen said. She couldn’t help beaming at him, and though he didn’t know why she was so happy, he smiled right back.

“Gross,” Harry Osborn said as he pushed his way between them to his seat in front of Peter. He turned around automatically to join in their conversation. He looked different from Peter in almost every way, his dark skin smooth and clear in contrast to Peter’s pale, slightly freckled skin, his short hair neat against his head while Peter’s was a mop that looked messy a few hours after he styled it. Harry had been Gwen’s friend since elementary school, and she adored him. She did not adore how he treated Peter.

“He’s a bit stuck-up,” Harry had told her when he’d first learned Peter and Gwen were dating.

“ _Yo_ _u’re_ a bit stuck-up, Harry,” Gwen had replied. He’d made a half-hearted defense and assured her he’d try to get along with him. Gwen knew they both tried. That was enough.

“Spider-Girl. Spider-Woman,” Peter said, turning his computer around to face Harry now. “Real or fake?”

“Probably fake,” Harry replied immediately.

Gwen crossed her arms over her chest. “She could be real!”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Sketchy Youtube videos are no proof. Wait until she appears on the actual news.”

“The costume is kind of cool,” Peter said, his computer back to him again. “I like the colors.”

“Nerd.”

Peter stuck his tongue out at Harry. “I’m just saying. Most superheroes go for red and blue, but the colors are kind of muted. It’s cute.”

Gwen was deprived of the opportunity to hear her two favorite boys talk more about her secret identity, as Mr. Allan walked in at that moment. Listening to him drone on and typing up notes, Gwen was enthralled by the name she was making. Back then, this had all been exciting and new. She’d had no idea what she was getting into.

* * *

The first dinner at Peter’s house since Spider-Woman’s appearance was almost normal. Peter was off work, so Gwen followed him home on the subway. It was such a dumb couple thinking, holding onto the same pole, standing close together. Peter looked cute from that angle, and Gwen could only think of the picture they made together.

“Aunt May is trying out a new recipe,” he said. “So be nice? The last time she tried one, I literally choked on how bad it was, and I thought I’d break her heart.”

“Oh, Pete,” Gwen sighed, though her grin prevented her from sounding too harsh.

“I’m joking! Kind of,” Peter laughed. “She’s really excited about you coming over. She’s missed you.”

Gwen’s smile faltered. Peter had hinted a couple of times lately that they weren’t having enough time together. That was really Gwen’s fault. Spider-Woman’s. She couldn’t exactly tell Peter about her new extracurricular activity, but their schedules hadn’t aligned so much. She missed Peter too, of course. It was hard not to, when their only time together was in school. “I’ve missed her too,” she said, grabbing onto Peter’s shoulder and rocking onto her toes for a kiss.

Peter smiled against her lips, blushing a bit as she pulled back. “I’m glad you’re coming, Gwendy darling.”

She snorted and covered her mouth, stumbling back a bit. Peter and his stupid nicknames. He was such a dork.

“Hey, stop laughing,” he said, grabbing at her waist and pulling her back in for another kiss. Someone on the subway cleared their throat, like their display of youthful affection was offensive. It was enough to give Peter a bit of shame, and he pulled back, only clutching at Gwen’s hand until they reached their stop.

When they walked in the front door, May was already at the stove making preparations, and she refused their offer of any assistance. Peter took Gwen up to his room instead.

“Ah, we’re alone,” he said. “Guess what that means?”

“Homework?” Gwen guessed with a quirk of her eyebrow.

Peter sighed and flopped down on his twin bed. She giggled and moved to sit on one corner, setting her backpack between them. “Come on. Let’s work together, and then maybe we’ll have some time. Your uncle won’t be home from work for another hour, right?”

“Yeah,” Peter said, yanking his precalc textbook out of his threadbare backpack. He kicked off his shoes, and Gwen noticed the toes were starting to wear. She should get him a pair of shoes for Christmas. As if he’d noticed what Gwen was looking at, Peter cleared his throat, cheeks red and looked down at his book. “What do you have to do tonight?”

Gwen hummed. “I need to write a summary for English, but I don’t think I’ll be able to concentrate on that right now. I should do the vocab for history, I guess.”

“Shit, I forgot about that,” Peter huffed, tossing his head back. Gwen leaned over to kiss him, but she was stopped by the backpacks. Peter laughed at her. “Hey, respect the wall! I’d never get anything done if your pretty face was that close.”

Gwen had to hide her face in her backpack to keep from blushing too blush. His flirting was awful, but he was so adorable, it was hard to resist anyway.

“Get to work, Gwendy,” he said, shoving her head lightly. She forced herself to sit up and get out her things as well.

In moments like these, being Spider-Woman didn’t feel so important. What did Spider-Woman have but cool powers? Gwen Stacy had a bright future and a gorgeous boyfriend.

“I love you,” she said, looking up to Peter beside her. Somehow, he’d pulled out his camera, and he lowered it sheepishly.

“I love you too,” he said, smiling his toothy, braces-filled grin. Gwen gave up on homework. Peter was far too distracting. When he breathed, “Gwendy,” she knew he felt the exact same.

She had no clue how long it had been when they heard a voice call, “Knock knock,” from down the hall, and they both pulled apart. Peter’s uncle popped his head in the door, grinning in a way that reminded Gwen of Peter.

“Hello, Miss Stacy. May told me you were joining us tonight,” Ben Parker said. “It’s good to see you.”

“You too, Mr. Parker,” Gwen said. She glanced over to Peter, who was fiddling with his glasses. Ben laughed, and Gwen face burned red.

“You two come down when you’re ready. Preferably in a few minutes. I’m hungry.”

Ben Parker never made fun of them for being so attached to each other, but Peter still looked flustered as he tried to set his textbook aside, notebook slipping into the middle and bending the pages. “We should, uh.”

“Come on, Pete,” Gwen said, grabbing his hand. Her stomach rose to her chest and flipped when he smiled.

Down the stairs, Ben and May were acting just as sappy, and Peter only made a bit of a face upon watching them kiss. Gwen remembered the first time May had caught them kissing. Gwen had come over for a project, and her dad was picking her up. They’d decided to wait out front to make sure he could find the place. Sitting on the doorstep, the porch light on, Peter had leaned over and kissed her. It was short and awful and their first kiss, and Gwen had nearly cried when she’d heard the knock on the window behind her. Peter had been equally mortified when he saw his aunt waving. He’d told her later that he’d gotten a lecture on displays of affection being totally natural, which was why he couldn’t say anything about his aunt and uncle. He still looked green every time Gwen brought it up, but she’d grown more accustomed to the family’s ways.

“Are you going to stay very late tonight, Gwen?” May asked as they took a seat at the table.

Gwen shook her head. “No. I should head home after dinner.”

“Alright. Do you want Peter to take you home?”

Peter had already started eating, and he pulled his fork out of his mouth. “Gwen goes home on her own all the time.”

“She’s a young woman,” Ben started, well-meaning but unnecessary.

“I’m a cop’s daughter,” Gwen assured. “I know self-defense.”

Peter grinned beside her. “She could beat me up.” He had no idea how true that was.

While they ate, the little TV in the corner of the counter played the news. The Fantastic Four had stopped another meteor, and they were chatting on TV, all at ease on the camera.

“Can you imagine doing that? They don’t even look like it scared them,” Peter said. He was chewing on his straw again, and May scolded him when she noticed.

“Well, they have to,” Gwen pointed out.

Ben agreed. “No one else can do what they can do. They may have been in an accident, but it still gave them power. And with—”

“Great power comes great responsibility,” Peter and May droned. They both looked bored, and not for the first time, Gwen wondered how it was that Peter was related to Ben and not May.

“It’s a good quote,” Ben protested.

“Overused,” Peter teased.

“I like it,” Gwen assured, and Ben smiled at her. She’d always liked Ben. Even though most of the time Peter seemed more like May, she could see the underlyings of the man Peter would become like he’d inherited his framework from that side of the family. How Ben would react if May had become a superhero? With great power comes great responsibility, he said. Surely he’d understand that she had to do something.

How Peter would react?

* * *

The comments hadn’t started off obvious. Mostly it was in their texts.

Pete ❤️

Got let off early because it’s slow. Want to get a snow cone?

Gwendy Darling

Not today, sorry. I have homework.

Pete ❤️

:(

Or

Pete ❤️

My only day off this week is Thursday. Are you busy?

Gwendy Darling

Yesssss. I have that finance project.

Pete ❤️

Aw. I miss you.

But then it had become

Pete ❤️

Hey, you busy?

Pete ❤️

It’s okay if you are.

Pete ❤️

I’m working all weekend, but you can come and visit if you want? I’ll get you a free hot chocolate.

Pete ❤️

I love you. Let’s try to get together next week, okay? :)

And Gwen couldn’t help feeling a little guilty. Peter was trying his hardest, and he never said anything obvious, but as far as he was concerned, she didn’t have a reason to be as busy as he was. But it wasn’t like Gwen could explain, and by the time she was really noticing how Peter felt, it had already affected them face to face.

“What are you working on?” Peter asked, lying face down on her bed. He looked as if he’d dressed up that day, as much as he could, in a shirt she’d never seen before and her favorite pair of his jeans. He’d even made a real effort with his hair, and he was a sight with his head resting on his hand.

“College essays,” Gwen answered, lounging in her chair at her desk. She turned to look at him and smiled. He returned it, close-lipped.

“I thought that’s what you were doing last week,” he said.

Gwen hesitated. She’d forgotten that lie. “Oh, I scrapped it. It was crap.”

“Want some help?” Peter asked, perking up. He hopped off the bed and slid to her side, wrapping his arms around her neck. “Uh, Gwendy, that doesn’t look like an essay.”

Gwen smiled sheepishly. “Okay, you got me. There’s this indie group I like, and they’re holding a concert near here.”

Peter craned his neck to look at the screen. “The Mary Janes… Lead singer Mary Jane partners with pianist Gloria Grant to bring— Are there only two of them?”

Gwen laughed. “Yeah. They advertise for a drummer all the time, but they’re really good even without one.”

“Are you going to go then?” Peter asked, nodding at the screen.

Gwen paused. She couldn’t exactly explain she’d spent all of her allowance on web fluid. “Dad doesn’t want me to go alone, so no. But it’s not big deal,” she said, hoping Peter wouldn’t say anything else.

He hummed and nodded. “Hey, Gwen?”

“Yeah?” she answered.

“Your dad isn’t home, right?”

Gwen shook her head.

“I want to kiss you,” Peter whispered, face flushed. Gwen exhaled and nodded, setting her computer on the desk and grabbing at Peter’s collar. What else mattered but this? Gwen had it good, and she was going to take advantage of her boyfriend’s presence.

* * *

It had started off the same as any other time, except this time, Gwen had stumbled across an actual supervillain. Or as close to one as she was going to get.

Ms. Morris, their chemistry teacher, had kept Peter after school to make up a lab he’d missed when his aunt had been in the hospital.

(“That’s bullshit,” Harry said at lunch. “You should just be excused.” If only he had been.)

Gwen had come by at five to see if he was finished and wanted to catch dinner. Since he’d had to make this up, he’d taken the day off work, and it seemed a perfect opportunity to make time for each other. Peter had mentioned that he thought Gwen was getting a bit busy lately, “though of course I know you’re just as busy getting ready for college apps,” he assured her when he’d brought it up. She wanted to see him, wanted to have a day like they’d used to have.

When she’d arrived at school, it was dark out, storm clouds hanging overhead. Gwen had forgotten her raincoat. She tugged her jacket over her head and ran inside before she was too soaked. At this time of day, only the front doors were unlocked, and most of the lights of the building had been turned off. After practically living in the building for three years, Gwen had no trouble navigating to the science corridor--or she would have, had there not been a giant lizard blocking the pathway.

Gwen stopped, the soles of her shoes skidding on the tile floor. The lizard hissed and scurried off. The lizard hit Gwen with its tail as it passed by, and she stumbled to the wall in her shock. Seeing a giant lizard apparently was more than her spider sense could take. She’d need to learn to deal with that. Rising back to her feet, she rubbed her head and grinned. This was a job for Spider-Woman.

The bathrooms were equally unlit, and Gwen was almost okay with that as she changed her clothes, leaving Gwen Stacy’s attire in her bag hanging on the door of the second stall. No one was around, so it would be okay. Now, first, she had to find the lizard.

No. First, she had to find Peter. Peter was in the building, doing that stupid lab, and Gwen needed to get him out first. She ran out of the bathroom and back down the science hall, but the lizard wasn’t there that time. That was good, probably, unless it had already made off with Peter. What room was he in again? 234, she thought. She swung open the door and let out a sigh of relief. She was right.

“Young man, are you alright?” she asked, trying to sound commanding like one of the heroes on TV. Peter had turned around from his experiment when the door opened, and he pushed his glasses up his nose again. His red sweater, a bit too big, hung over his hands.

“Are you--? Holy shit. You’re Spider-Girl. Er. Spider-Woman? That’s what my girlfriend calls you,” he stammered.

Gwen grinned from behind her mask. “Spider-Woman. Your girlfriend sounds smart.”

“Oh, she’s the best. She’ll be so upset she missed this,” Peter said. He glanced back to his experiment on the table. “You, uh. So what are you here for, Miss Spider-Woman?”

“That’s classified,” she said, more and more thrilled by this situation the longer she spoke. “Young man, I think you need to leave this area. In fact, I’ll escort you out. It’s not safe.”

As she spoke, Peter’s face grew more grim. He looked back at his experiment on the table again. “I . . . .” He hesitated. “Is this about the lizard?”

Gwen paused. How did Peter know about the lizard?

“Okay, so it is. Look, I know I must sound crazy, and I’m just a kid, but-- That’s my science teacher,” he said, running a hand through his messy hair in the way Gwen had always loved. “We were working on something in here, and I don’t know what happened, exactly-- Well, I mean, I do know what happened, but-- I can cure her. I know I can. That’s what I’m working on.”

Dear lord, Gwen was dating this boy.

“Young man, I don’t think that’s your responsibility,” she said. “It’s too dangerous for a civilian to hang around. Let me handle it.”

“You can’t make the formula!” Peter protested.

Gwen gave him a look, though she wasn’t sure how it came through the mask. “Excuse me?”

He hesitated, biting his lip as he retracted the statement. “I mean . . . . Okay, maybe you could. I don’t know how much you know. But you didn’t see the reaction like I did. I know what happened. I know what chemicals caused this. And I _know_ how to fix it. Besides, you can’t exactly put this all together on your own, can you?”

“Sure I can,” she argued. At that moment, the lizard burst through the door. Gwen leapt into action, jumping across the room to grab the lizard before it could come any closer to Peter.

“This is what I mean!” Peter yelled from behind her. She didn’t give him a glance, but she could imagine him, indignant and frantic as he worked on his experiment. “Spider-Woman, you have to handle the lizard, but I can handle _this_. Let me help you!”

“I don’t need help,” Gwen argued. She grabbed at the lizard’s arms and jumped over its head before pulling it back. “Especially not from a kid.”

From this angle, she could see Peter’s face, and he gave her a look Gwen had never seen on him before. It was serious, solemn, strong. In another circumstance, it would have made her heart flutter. This expression was familiar. She’d seen it on Peter’s uncle from time to time. “Too bad,” he said. “I can do something to help. I _have_ to help. This wasn’t her fault. _She_ needs help.”

And if that wasn’t a fine argument.

“Fine,” Gwen agreed reluctantly. “I’ll keep Big Ugly busy while you do your work, kid.”

“Peter,” he said, and she bit her tongue to keep from responding she knew. Something about Peter always made her act a bit stupid. That was okay, though, since Peter told her that before he’d asked her out, he’d once opened his locker into his face when he saw her down the hall, and that had to be the worst. “Oh, when this is done, could you give me an autograph? I bet my girlfriend would love it. Ooh, or a picture! I have a good camera in my bag.”

Pete and his cameras. She shook her head as she tried to keep the lizard at bay.

“Is that a no?” Peter asked.

Gwen huffed. “Not right now, kid!”

“Right!” he said, looking a bit sheepish. He looked back at his experiment, or cure, as it seemed to be, skimming through the analysis he was running. “Do you think you could get me a scale or something? I think we should see if this works before we try it.”

The lizard squirmed against Gwen’s grasp, tossing her to the side. She landed on the wall, knocking over the row of test tubes. Oops. No lab on Monday. “I’m not sure we have the time for that,” she said.

“If we don’t, we could kill her,” Peter argued. “Or maybe make this worse. I mean, the reaction was totally crazy in the first place. I don’t think I’m going to place all my bets on my hypothesis at the moment.”

Another good point. Gwen hummed before using the edge of her web shooter to scrape the lizard’s back. “I’m leaving some scales on the floor, okay? Or . . . there might be blood, I guess. I don’t know, you should be able to use it. But I’m taking this to a bigger arena. Keep working, and I’ll come back and get the cure.” She was making up this plan as she went, but Gwen thought it seemed pretty solid. Get the big thing away from Peter, where he couldn’t be hurt, and then get the cure and save the day. Maybe this would be a good opportunity to reveal her identity, after showing Peter how _competent_ she was at this.

The scratch had only irritated the lizard, enough to cause it to follow Gwen to the gymnasium. In the gym, it was furious. For the first time, Gwen was fighting something at her own level. She was taking real hits, and she was realizing a little too late she might not be able to run back. She might not be able to take a break from fighting unless she knocked the lizard out or killed it. Doing either of those things was too close. If she made one wrong move . . . .

These were considerations she should have had earlier. Once Gwen really became Spider-Woman, she knew to think these things through. But because she hadn’t, this fight took too long, and finally Peter had come looking for her.

_Peter_.

“Spider-Woman!” he yelled, running into the room. His glasses were slipping down his nose again, and he was panting. He’d never been very athletic. “I’ve got the cure,” he said, waving the shot around in one hand.

“Hold on!” Gwen yelled back. She tried to toss the lizard to the side and run to get it, but the lizard got back up too quickly. It tackled Gwen from behind. She pushed her way up. “Hold on,” she repeated, focusing back in on the fight.

What happened next was a blur. Fights were always a blur back then. She didn’t pay enough attention. It was punches and webs, trying to tie the lizard up, failing. It was a step to the side and a duck and the lizard’s tongue jutting out. Then it was a sharp pain in the back of her head and the lizard shrieking in pain, Peter standing behind it with the needle in his hand, and the smack against his side, where he went flying across the room.

A giant lizard shouldn’t have had that much strength. A giant lizard shouldn’t have _existed._

“Peter!” she shrieked as she ran to his side, forgetting all about the lizard in the middle of the room. She didn’t notice if it slithered away or if Ms. Morris came back and did the slithering. All she noticed was her boyfriend lying limp against the wall, the blood rushing out of his head. “Peter,” she said, lifting his head. She wasn’t supposed to do that, was she? That could make the injury worse. She couldn’t stop.

His glasses were broken, and some of the lens shards had cut his face. The rest were lying around his body and on his chest. His baby blue eyes were glazing over. His bottom lip was bleeding, as if he’d bit it when he went flying.

“Peter, it’s me,” she murmured. Was her mask absorbing her tears? She felt like she was crying, but she couldn’t feel anything. “Pete, it’s Gwen. It’s me. I’m right here. I’m sorry I didn’t--”

Peter’s lips moved, and she thought he was saying, “Gwendy,” but she couldn’t tell. He didn’t really make a sound. His head bobbed to the side, and the glasses fell the rest of the way off. His eyes were still open. She could feel it inside of her.

Peter Parker was dead.

“No,” she murmured. This wasn’t supposed to happen. He wasn’t even supposed to be involved in this. She hadn’t told him yet. They’d never get the chance to talk about it. He’d never tell her he thought this was cool. He’d never swing around the city with her. He wasn’t going out to dinner with her tonight; she wasn’t making time for him like she’d planned. He was lying dead in her arms, and he was seventeen--seventeen with a perfect SAT score and an above perfect GPA, like he said he needed to pay for college, college they were supposed to go to together. He’d never publish that book of photographs he always promised he’d make, with Gwen as the cover. He’d never be salutatorian to her valedictorian or valedictorian himself. She’d give him that if he’d wake up. But he wouldn’t. He wasn’t sleeping, and she couldn’t pretend. “Peter,” she choked out, cradling him closer. His body was still warm, but he was a limp weight in her arms. Gwen was holding a dead body.

“Peter.”

She lifted her head. Standing in the doorway to the gym was Harry Osborn.

“Is that . . . Peter?” he asked, though she could tell the question wasn’t directed at her. He stepped closer. Harry had always been like that, no concern for himself when he needed answers. He moved closer, until he could see the body like he needed to. His eyes snapped up to Gwen’s, sharp and dark and angry. “Spider-Woman.”

Gwen couldn’t answer. She couldn’t think of anything to say. Peter was _dead_.

“You killed him,” Harry said. “You-- Oh my god. You’re real, and you killed him. How could you? He was just--”

How funny, that the first time Harry would even seem to care was--

Had Gwen thought that then, or had she only thought _Peter Peter Peter_?

Harry dropped to the ground and shoved her away, trying to take Peter from her arms. She tried to push back, but she realized if she pushed hard enough, she’d send Harry flying the same way the lizard had Peter, and then--

Harry was cradling Peter instead, drawing his fingers over Peter’s face, like he was going to find something. The blood from the cuts smeared onto his fingers and over Peter’s skin, and when he lifted his hand and looked down, he seemed to focus on the blood. “Peter,” he whispered. His eyes were wet, and he trembled as he stroked Peter’s cheek again.

Gwen couldn’t make sense of what was going on in front of her. It had to be fake. This couldn’t be real. Harry hated Peter. Peter couldn’t be dead.

The blood on the floor had pooled out and hit Gwen’s knees. Oh, god, it was real. She stretched her arms out for Peter again, but Harry tugged his body away.

“Don’t you dare touch him,” he hissed. “You _killed_ him. Why would you do that? He was just-- He was just a kid. You’re supposed to be a-- a-- a superhero or-- Why would you kill him?” His voice was growing strained, and he was holding onto Peter tighter with every word. What would Peter have said if he’d seen this? Gwen couldn’t even think of it. She couldn’t imagine Peter’s voice. When she tried, all she saw were his lips moving like, “Gwendy,” but no sound coming out, and he was _gone_.

“I didn’t kill him,” Gwen spoke up, finally finding a voice, though part of her spoke up, _Didn’t you?_ If she’d been faster, _better_ , if she’d removed him from the building like she’d planned on in the first place. Why had she risked Peter’s life for their stupid chemistry teacher who managed to turn herself into a lizard? How the hell had that even happened? Peter knew, and Peter was dead, and the lizard was gone. She looked at Harry, trying to say the words. _The lizard killed him._ It sounded like bullshit. “I didn’t . . . .”

“Don’t lie to me!” Harry shrieked. His chest heaved after those words, and he very carefully lowered Peter’s head to the floor, shifting over the shards of glass beside him. They crunched underneath him. He looked up to Gwen. “I’m going to kill you,” Harry said. “You have no idea what you’ve done, Spider-Woman. I’m going to _kill you_.” He stared at Gwen with a hatred she’d never imagined in his eyes. He looked as if he wanted to do something but thought better if it. With that, he ran out.

Gwen looked at Peter’s body, longing to hold him again, arms twitching, but he was so still on the floor, where Harry had put him so gently, and he was dead. She drew back. His backpack was still in the chemistry classroom.

She didn’t know why she went to get it. It wasn’t as if there would be any faking what had caused his death. If the cameras in the gym had caught it, then everyone would know the truth. If they hadn’t, they’d see Spider-Woman darting through the halls and carrying a beat-up backpack to the gym, setting it down beside a student’s dead body for no apparent reason.

When she knelt down beside him again, she couldn’t help thinking he looked worse than before. Deader. Was she imagining things or was that real?

Gwen let go of the backpack, and it slumped against his legs. The front pocket he never closed unzipped a little more, and she stopped at the flash of eggshell and pink poking out. She reaches over to see what it was.

The Mary Janes.

Peter had bought tickets.

Gwen let out a sob, weak and ugly, as she curled her fingers around the tickets, the last gift from Peter, the one she’d never received. From the windows bordering the ceiling, red and blue lights flashed. No. She couldn’t. Peter had never given them to her. It was time to make her exit.

Spider-Woman had nothing to say to the police.

* * *

At home, late that night, Captain Stacy pulled his daughter away from her homework.

“Gwen,” he said in that gentle, fatherly tone, the one he always used to break hard news to victims and their families. “Your boyfriend was killed today.”

_I know._ Gwen didn’t answer. She stared at the wall behind him.

“We’re currently investigating, but your friend Harry Osborn found him. He thinks the vigilante Spider-Woman did this. I promise you, sweetheart, whoever it is, we’ll get her,” he said, but Gwen wasn’t listening. She thought of Peter on the gym floor, so small and helpless, the tickets in his backpack. Her dad pulled her to his chest and stroked her back. “We’ll get her, Gwennie. I promise. Pete was a good kid. We’re going to find her. You don’t have to worry. Everything is going to be okay.”

Was this how he always comforted? Gwen wasn’t sure it was all that effective. What did any of that matter? Peter was dead, deaddeaddead, and he wasn’t coming back, and she should have saved him.

But no one was talking about Peter after that. All anyone talked about was Spider-Woman and how she’d killed an innocent boy. 


End file.
